World Report

Associated Press

Published Friday, June 14, 2002

Yasser Arafat convenes new Palestinian Cabinet

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat convened his new slimmed-down Cabinet which was appointed in response to demands that he reform the unwieldy and corruption-ridden Palestinian administration.

The Cabinet, trimmed from 31 ministers to 21, had its first meeting Thursday in Arafat's headquarters complex, a day after Israeli troops withdrew from the perimeter walls, ending a two-day blockade. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat convened his new Cabinet Thursday, appointed in a step toward reforming the unwieldy and corruption-ridden Palestinian administration.

One by one, five new ministers approached Arafat, seated at the head table, put their hands on a Quran and swore allegiance to the Palestinian Authority.

The Cabinet, appointed Sunday, was to meet Monday, but the Israeli incursion caused a postponement, Palestinian officials said.

Interim leader elected in provisional Afghan government

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hamid Karzai, the U.S.-backed leader of the interim Afghan administration, was overwhelmingly elected head of state Thursday by a grand council, or loya jirga.

Ismail Qasim Yar, head of the loya jirga commission, announced that Karzai won 1,295 votes. Masooda Jalal, who worked for the United Nations food program and the only female candidate, received 171 votes and Mir Mohammed Mahfoz Nadai received 89.

A fourth candidate Glam Fareq Majidi was disqualified before the vote because he garnered only 101 signatures of support.

"We announce him as the president of the coming interim government," Qasimyar said of Karzai.

Karzai received a thunderous applause when the announcement was made placing him at the top of the Afghan administration for the next 18 months while parliamentary elections are organized.

Stolen Egyptian artifact removed from sale by Christie's

CAIRO, Egypt -- An ancient artifact stolen 12 years ago from an Egyptian temple has been identified at Christie's auction house in New York and withdrawn from the sale, officials of the Egyptian government and Christie's said Thursday.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Antiquities, said a French Egyptologist recognized the granite relief of a pharaoh in Christie's sales catalog and notified the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.

Hawass said he would go to New York next week for a final examination of the artifact and negotiations to return it to Egypt.

Christie's said on its Web site that the artifact was valued at $7,000 to $9,000. Spokeswoman Margaret Doyle said the piece was withdrawn from an auction Wednesday. She said U.S. Customs officials notified them Tuesday that there were questions about the piece.

The artifact, 15 inches high, is a granite relief of the head and shoulders of a god facing the left, Christie's said.

Egyptian authorities said it was most probably created between 360 and 343 B.C., during the reign of Pharaoh Nectanebo II. It was excavated in 1977 from a temple in Behbiet el-Hagara in the Nile Delta, about 85 miles west of Cair.